The wrong way to do it
Buried somewhere in this blog, I've been keeping a running list of apps I've gotten for my iPhone. (I suppose if tags were actually working in the blogs, I could tag the entry with something useful so people could actually find it. )
One app I won't be getting is the recently released Namco Arcade.
Even though it's free.
Of course, it's not really free. If you want to play the games, you have to pay for them.
Now, this should come as no surprise, since Atari does the same thing. Their app is free, the games cost 99¢ per pack. You buy them, you own them. Play them anytime you want. This is pretty-much the way apps of this sort should work.
But that's not how Namco did it.
Namco took the "Arcade" part of its title too literally. To play these particular games - you have to pay per play.
'Scuse me?
You read that right. You have to buy "Play Coins" in packs to play the games. Otherwise, you get one free play, each day. Run out of "Coins"? You can't play anymore until you buy more. And your "Free Play" is used up before you dip into your "Coins", too.
Can't you just buy the games? Like you can with other arcade games by Namco? Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Rally-X, Galaga, Dig-Dug, Pole Position, Mappy? Nope. We've reverted back to the days of quarter-eaters. Insert coin to play. On your phone.
And the games? Xevious, Tower of Druaga, Motos and Phozon. Of the bunch, only Xevious is worth squat. In fact, I'd never even heard of the other three until MAME came along. (But they promise more are on the way.)
Ridiculous.
This is so greedy and stupid, I'm beyond being insulted by it. I'm actually offended.
Fortunately, it won't run on my iPhone 3GS.
Can't say I'm going to lose any sleep over it.
Here's hoping Apple puts a stop to this sort of thing.
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